Reaching for Pentecost

TV stations offer a variety of programs: sports, movies, news, etc. Radio stations identify themselves by format: country, hip-hop, classical, etc. Catholics aren’t so lucky. They walk into Mass with idea what sort of content or format the homilist throw at them.

Homiletic Discourse is Unique
What format options are available? Well, here are few “tried and true” categories of preaching: evangelistic, catechetical, theological or homiletic. These four types of preaching have accompanied believers throughout the history of the Church. Becoming acquainted with the basic properties of each category, strengthens the preacher's skill and effectiveness in delivering that particular type of preaching
How does one distinguish the difference? Simply put, evangelistic preaching aims to convert, catechetical give advice on how to live the faith, theological preaching promotes clear thought about doctrine and homiletic preaching reveals the presence of Christ as encountered in the sacred rites of the Church.
The last category—homiletic preaching—is the type of preaching most Catholics should expect as part of their experience of Holy Mass. It is a unique type of discourse with a distinct purpose. Since it serves as an integral part of the liturgy, it should not be perceived as “time out” form worship or a few words of instruction from the preacher. Rather, its goal is to engender an encounter with Christ.

Unique Discourse Requires Unique Strategies
Below is a comparison of the rhetorical strategies that tend to characterize the first three traditional categories of preaching:

Evangelists employ stories of conversion and focus on the basic elements of the Gospel message (the kerygma).

Catechists draw upon the examples of saints and contemporary Catholic practices to coach new believers in right behavior.

What’s left for the homilist to use? Plenty. The homilist describes. By employing vivid description as a strategy, the homiletic preacher points makes evident the movement of the Holy Spirit at work in the parish community: “Here is God and there is God. And, yes, over there, yet another hint of God!”
Homiletic preaching is pertinent to the liturgy because it is “sacramental preaching,” meaning it reveals the face of Christ.

More than Meets the Eye
There is a saying among the Orthodox: “The eyes of flesh perceive bread and wine upon the altar, but the eyes of faith gaze upon the Body and Blood of Christ.” A similar statement describes the homiletic brand of preaching: “Ears of flesh hear words of human experience, but ears of faith detect, within the description of human experience, the living reality of Christ.”
In other words, homiletic preaching overlays the image of the Prodigal Son with that of a teenager loitering outside a convenience store; it pours the wine of Cana sparkle into the goblets on the banquet table at your daughter’s wedding; it fills a retiree’s fishing boat not with bass but with grace.
The primary objective of homiletic preaching is ushering the believer into an experience of kairos, a moment when the walls of time fall away and the present gives way to eternity.

Mystagogical Preaching
The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults calls this type of preaching “mystagogical,” a word that means the apprehension of the mysteries of God in words we understand and, sometimes, in ways that make us want to shout!
The preacher might be speaking about life in small town…or the power of faith inside the walls of a prison…or recasting an ancient parable in terms of a morning commute to the offic, the result is the same: God’s Word steps into our world and takes on flesh.
The listener might hear the homily delivered with a Southern drawl…or a Texas twang…or the accent of a priest from India, Again, the result is an experience of worship and praise and, suddenly, it’s Pentecost all over again!